Delphi

One of the keys to helping clean up diesel emissions and improving performance in recent years has been the piezo electric fuel injectors developed by companies like Bosch, Continental and Delphi. Previous injector designs used electro-magnetic solenoids to move the injector needle and feed fuel to the combustion chambers. In piezo injectors, a stack of piezo crystals expand when an electric current is applied. The piezo actuators respond more precisely and repeatably providing more accurate fue

Our first thought was "Boy, retirement plans sure ain't what they used to be." Reality, of course, is more banal, it's just UAW Local 651 going all nostalgic while demolition of the Flint East plant continues. The plant's last occupant was Delphi, but the plant has a history nearly as long as the automotive industry itself. With that much provenance, Local 651 is most likely right in assuming that some former workers might want to have a bric

Electric drive vehicles from major manufacturers, be they hybrids, fuel cell or plug-ins, all use alternating current (AC) motors to drive the wheels because they are more efficient. However, there is a little flaw with AC motors in these cars. The sources of on-board electricity (fuel cell or battery) all provide direct current. That means an inverter is required to transform the direct current to alternating. Automakers are currently scrambling to reduce the cost of all the components in elect

Bankrupt supplier Delphi was expected to finalize a financing package this morning that would finally allow the company to emerge from the red, but in the 11th hour one of its investors backed out leaving the supplier, its largest customer General Motors and the company's shareholders in the lurch. Appaloosa Management LP had lead a $2.55 billion equity plan that was a large part of Delphi's financing package, and without

Since declaring bankruptcy a couple of years ago, auto parts supplier Delphi has been shuttering or selling facilities all over the country. Now one of those facilities is set for a revival. A former Delphi research lab in Shelby Twp., MI has been turned over to the U.S. Automotive Partnership for Advancing Research and Technologies (U.S. Autoparts). US Autoparts is a consortium consisting of automotive suppliers and government researchers that will be working on developing new technologies aime

One of Delphi's major reveals during CES this week is surely to get the iPhone fanbois frothing at the mouth – even if it's just a concept. The software allows users to monitor and control several aspects of a vehicle's system, everything from unlocking doors to starting

Europe is the land of the diesel, with oil-burners taking at least half the market in most of western Europe and as much as eighty percent in places like France. In spite of their problems in North America, Delphi has long been a major supplier of an assortment of diesel engine components to a variety of automakers. Now Delphi has plans to get into the retail diesel service business. They plan to open 1,200 diesel engine service centers in the next few years that will focus on servicing all the

Bankrupt auto supplier Delphi continues divesting its low-margin operations, this time by unloading their catalyst business. Delphi is selling their original equipment and aftermarket catalytic converter businesses to Umicore for $66 million. The former GM parts division is keeping their engine management, fuel systems and valvetrain technologies since those products can command more of a price premium.

Delphi has been in bankruptcy protection in the US for almost two years and they've been closing and selling off plants trying to get profitable. Overseas, a lot of Delphi's operations have been going strong including their diesel fuel systems business. The company has also been moving some of their operations to lower-cost countries like those in Eastern Europe and Asia.

Delphi, the UAW, and GM have come to an accord. Pending approval by UAW members and federal bankruptcy court, it would mean that Delphi can focus on the other pressing matters in front of it after spending two years in bankruptcy.

Delphi had given the UAW two different proposals, neither of which the UAW felt it could take to its membership. The UAW's counterproposal on wages and benefits was only ten pages long, but is so complicated that it will take a while yet for Delphi to really sort out what it really means. Coming to an agreement with the UAW is essential for Delphi to emerge from bankruptcy as a recapitalized company. However, the UAW knows that if it gives any more concessions to Delphi, the big three automak

One of the major players in the acquisition of bankrupt mega-parts supplier, Delphi, is Cerberus Capital Management. That name should ring familiar to anyone following the ongoing saga of the (potential) sale of Chrysler, as Cerberus is one of the three firms making a pl

Ford's Broadmeadows facility has run out of at least one key component for V8 engines, and will have to shut down until its supplier resolves labor issues. The supplier, Coghlan and Russell Engineering, owes employees a boatload of money - in the order of 1.5 million-plus Austrailian dollars. Because of the outstanding payments, workers are holding out until they get the funds they're due, including pension and unemployment stipends. Ford and Delphi had offered to float Coghlan and Russell for a

In the ongoing effort to clean up diesel engine emissions, fuel system suppliers are pushing competing fuel injector technologies. Siemens VDO, Robert Bosch GmbH and Magneti Marelli are all developing piezo technology, while Delphi claims it can improve conventional electro-magnetic solenoids to the point where they can meet the Euro 5 emissions standards. Japanese supplier Denso is actually going down both paths. The driving force behind updating the injectors is to enhance the precision of the

The Greenbrier retreat hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers is known as something of a boondoggle in the industry, but with all the doom and gloom, we're hard-pressed to deny the automotive bigwigs a little fun. The tone of the confrence is light, with industry execs spending more time creating comedy routines than doing any actual work. Last year's event saw Bo Andersson search high and low for a Dracula costume after an opening skit referred to him as a b

According to Bloomberg, sources within the ongoing negotiations between General Motors and Delphi are saying that an agreement is near. The article cites a half dozen unnamed individuals who are confirming that GM will subsidize the pay of Delphi's workforce to ensure that a strike within the parts supplier doesn't cripple GM production.

Way back in March of this year, the UAW, GM and Delphi sat down to figure out a buyout/retirement plan for the approximately 14,600 employees eligible to leave the workforce. Delphi employees were offered two separate packages: certain retirement eligible employees will be able to walk with a lump sum payment of $35,000, while others would be offered a buyout of between $40,000 and $140,000. A total of 12,400 employees eligible for retirement took the $35k and 1,400 opted to walk early and get a

Aftermarket navigation systems are not cheap, though neither are the nav units that come bundled in your car. Aftermarket units can start in the $500 range but easily skyrocket up to $2,000 depending on how many features you demand. Delphi's consumer electronics division has just announced a new hand held nav system called the NAV200 that packs most of those popular features in a small form factor at an easily digestible price of $349.

The U.S. bankruptcy court hearing on Delphi's request to tear up its labor contracts has now been postponed until September 18, to allow further negotiation between the bankrupt parts maker, its labor unions and its biggest customer (and former parent company) General Motors.